Time Out For Women: John Bytheway

The Parable of the Marinade

thoughts from a talk given by John Bytheway

Have you ever marinated chicken?  The flavors of the marinade infuse with the chicken and it tastes better than the chicken or the marinade would on their own.  When the marinade has the right mix of flavors, the chicken is delicious.

We are all marinating in something all the time.  What are you marinating in?

• Are you marinating in sin, rebellion, grudges, hard feelings, and self-loathing?

• Or are you marinating in love, in service, in compassion (for yourself and for others), and in charity?

The truth is, regardless of your original intention, you will become what you surround yourself with.  You can't play with a skunk and not stink!  If you want to be good, you have to surround yourself with good and hope that it rubs off.

Fortunately for us, we are not pieces of chicken.  Chicken can not refuse to be affected by the marinade, but we can.  There are times in this life when due to circumstances beyond our control we are forced to marinate for a time in less than ideal circumstances.  The great prophet Mormon was at war with the Lamanites from the time he was 15 until his 74th year.  And yet, despite the constant death and desolation he was surrounded with, he remained ever faithful to Jesus Christ.

We need to surround ourselves with Christ.  Life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change.